Thursday, April 28, 2016

By the numbers

You know when one of those bloggers lists all of the zip codes on their outgoing packages? And you excitedly scan the list for your zip code?

Finding your own zip code is a thrill I can't describe. It's almost like finding your name on the roster on cut day.

But what if you find your zip code twice?

I wasn't prepared for that. Wasn't even a thought.

It turns out it's a little bit different feeling than seeing that zip there once. And that feeling begins with: "Uh oh."

I sat and stared at the list on Jaybarkerfan's Junk mentally determining where these cards were going to go, and how long it was going to take to file them, and what I was going to say about them. And then going through that process a second time, because my zip code was there TWICE.

I was just about to make an appointment to get my eyes checked, when I heard this banging noise out on the porch. The mailman was putting all his force into getting the packages into what had always been a perfectly good-sized mailbox until that point.

I shooed him away with my "there are CARDS in there, man" wave, and yanked out the packages. Yup, sure enough, there were two of them. Both from King Supertrader Wes.

I had no idea how to present two jam-packed large yellow envelopes full of cards, most of which weren't ordinary in any way. But there were so many serial numbered cards in the package that, at the risk of ignoring the non-numbered cards, I thought I'd do a countdown of serial-numberedness.

Don't worry, I'll show some of the other cards at the end, too. But first, here is a by-the-numbers showcase from two envelopes, from largest number to tiniest. That should get all you sick mojohunters excited.

Here we go:

No. 3476Out of: 4500Gotta say something here: Any 1998 card from Mike Piazza is a sad one. By the time you pulled this card, he was a Marlin. Or a Met. I'm very close to calling the Dodgers' current World Series drought the "Curse of the Piazza."

No. 306Out of: 2008Gotta say something here: While trying to figure out what Chad Billingsley is doing now (I still don't know) I found out that he just donated money toward his old high school getting a new press box. We sportswriters like hearing that.

No. 233Out of: 499Gotta say something here: I have no idea why this card is numbered. The photo doesn't look familiar to me, maybe that's it. I will never figure out Bowman.

No. 177Out of: 199Gotta say something here: Black borders should have been the way to go, Panini.